Shawnee, a quiet suburb of Kansas City, was one of the earlier cities in the country to pass a ban on pit bulls -- back in 1985. So for 31 years, as the city has grown, pit bulls and their owners have not been welcome.

However, that has all changed.

And the reasons for the change can be seen in a memorandum (starting on page 155) from Captain Ben Mendoza, Special Operations Bureau Commander in his letter to the City Manager with his reasoning for wanting the repeal.

"The pit bull prohibition was enforced successfully for many years, however over time it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish whether a dog is a specific pit bull breed. Additionally, trends in animal control enforcement have moved from differentiating an animal's propensity to aggressive behavior based on breed alone, to establishing a consistent response to all aggressive acts by any animal."

Captain Mendoza goes on to explain that in 1996 and again in 2007, the city passed behavior-based laws that specifically gave officers the ability to address animals that exhibit aggressive or harmful behavior.

Mendoza continues:

"Depending on conditions, any breed of dog may bite, no matter how well-bred, well-trained, or well-loved the animal is. Another important reason to make this change is the need to emphasize owner accountability rather than sole emphasis being placed on the animal. The owner, environment and manner in which the dog is raised can mold the dog into an aggressive animal, regardless of the breed. Eliminating the prohibition of pit bulls and using Dangerous Animal enforcement will provide for a consistent response to all animals who exhibit aggressive behavior. The SMC includes a number of enforceable restrictions for both Dangerous and Potentially Dangerous animals."

After some further explanation of the dangerous dog provisions, Mendoza notes that Shawnee is not alone in its desire to repeal breed-specific legislation:

"Currently 19 different states have passed laws prohibiting county or municipal breed specific legislation, and Missouri is one of the most recent to begin discussions on the topic. Kansas state law does not currently contain breed specific language and applies to any animal deemed dangerous. Of the 20 cities in Johnson County, Shawnee is currently one of four with a breed-specific ordinance.....Spring Hill (2014) and Roeland Park (2015) are the most recent cities in Johnson County to lift their ban on specific breeds."

Now the number of Johnson County cities with breed-specific laws is just three.

There was no opposition to the change. Two people testified in favor (one was a business owner of a canine service industry who's business was negatively impacted by the law), and many more people in the room were there to testify in favor of the change. Several city council members spoke in support of the law and noted that the time for the change was way past due.

Agreed.

Congrats to the community of Shawnee and for others that are making the decision to repeal old breed-specific laws and put the emphasis on canine and owner behavior.

April 18, 2016

A couple of weeks ago, the community of Baldwin City, KS (Population 4,515) repealed its long-time ban on pit bulls. The city passed a final vote two weeks ago (it passed unanimously). The new law, Ordinance 1335, redefines "prohibited animals" and pit bulls are no longer on the list. The ordinance made other changes that included more clear definitions of dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs based on behavior.

According to earlier new reports, the city Police Chief, Greg Neis, acknowledged that the pit bull ban wasn't being enforced. "We all know there are people in the city with pit bulls," he told the Lawrence Journal World. I have yet to approach an aggressive one that comes close to meeting the standards of a dangerous dog. Most are pretty lovable. If one does come to town, we'll deal with it with the dangerous dog provisions."

While the move is a great move for the city of Baldwin City, it also highlights a growing trend in the state of Kansas. 25+ years ago Kansas was a hotbed for breed-specific laws. Much of that stemmed from the state being home to one of the early court cases involving breed-specific laws.

The sheer number of these repeals highlights a growing trend among communities to follow expert opinion and change ordinances to behavior based ordinances vs ones that target dogs based on breed or appearance. The Kansas Animal Control Association has also taken a stand against breed-specific laws and favors behavior-based laws.

Behavior-based laws are more fair and more efficient at addressing the issue of dangerous dogs in communities. As Chief Neis noted, if a dangerous pit bull comes along, they can still address it with their behavior-based ordinance, but it frees his time up from having to target the mostly "pretty lovable" ones.

The change in direction in Kansas is certainly a positive and reflective of a national trend across the country as well, with 19 states now prohibiting breed-specific laws, and many cities in states that still allow such laws opting to change them on their own. This is particularly true in Ohio (as well as Kansas) which has seen a huge number of repeals in recent years.